If you were searching for 10 seconds of footage to demonstrate the concept of a box-to-box midfielder, it would be difficult to find anything more fitting than Aaron Ramsey’s goal in Arsenal’s 2-0 victory at Villa Park.

In a flowing move described simply by Arsène Wenger as “the way we want to play football”, Ramsey touched the ball just twice. The first was a crunching tackle on the edge of his own penalty area, dispossessing Idrissa Gueye and setting up Arsenal for a counterattacking opportunity. The second was the simplest of finishes, inside the Villa penalty box, converting Mesut Özil’s typically selfless pass – the German’s 13th assist of the Premier League season. Between the two touches was something equally important – a 70-yard run which took him past six Villa players.

Giroud and Ramsey on target as Arsenal cruise to win over Aston Villa and go top

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“It was obviously nice to be there and finish it off,” the Welshman said. “It was a great move from us, we’ve seen there was an opportunity to get forward, it was a great ball from Theo [Walcott] and then the vision of [Mesut] Özil to play me in for a simple tap-in was delightful as well. It’s part of the job in the middle to win tackles, and I was happy to start [the goal] as well.”

This is what Ramsey is all about. One of few top-level Premier League footballers who can reasonably be described as a true box-to-box midfielder, Ramsey was magnificent throughout 2013-14 in his favoured central midfield role, contributing significantly in two completely different areas. Of the Premier League’s central midfielders, only Yaya Touré scored more goals from open play, and only four attempted more tackles.

Recording such outstanding figures in both respects is extremely rare, and Ramsey was aware of this statistical peculiarity, keeping an eye on the numbers fed to him by Arsenal’s backroom staff, keen to maintain high standards, as well as being aware of his numbers involving distance covered.

Since then, Ramsey has suffered from injuries, before finding himself out on the right thanks to the excellent form of Francis Coquelin and Santi Cazorla, who provided all-round midfield attributes as a partnership rather than as individuals.

Ramsey has repeatedly, if politely, outlined his dislike for playing on the wing – and Wenger fully knows it wasn’t his best role. The team simply fell into place that way, and redeploying Ramsey centrally at the expense of either Coquelin or Cazorla, who were both playing wonderfully, would have been an odd decision.

With both out injured, now is Ramsey’s time to shine – and he has grabbed the opportunity with both hands. In his three games back in that central role, he contributed a goal and an assist in the 3-1 victory over Sunderland, another assist in the midweek 3-0 win at Olympiakos, and then this role-defining goal to put the game out of Villa’s reach.

Here, Ramsey had more shots, played more passes and won more tackles than any other player – illustrating his all-round ability perfectly. Arsenal’s next league fixture is at the Emirates against Manchester City and Touré, arguably the only other top-level box-to-box midfielder in the division. Another performance like this against the Ivorian and Ramsey can claim to be the Premier League’s best player in his role.